BioShock 2 Disappears From All Digital Marketplaces - Update

BioShock 2 has suddenly vanished from pretty much every digital retailer's library.

Update: Breathe easy, BioShock fans. 2K Games just issued us the following statement:

"BioShock 2 has been temporarily removed from the Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network marketplaces and will return to these digital stores soon. We'll let you know when that happens. In the meantime, this in no way affects the singleplayer or multiplayer experience for those who currently own BioShock 2."

Original Story: While often regarded as the weakest of the BioShock trilogy, BioShock 2 is still a fun game for those seeking a return to rapture. However, if you were looking to complete your collection by picking up a copy on one of the internet's digital marketplaces, you may be out of luck, as the title has mysteriously vanished from pretty much every outlet that was selling it.

The Steam store, PSN, Xbox Live, GreenManGaming, the Apple Store and even Amazon are no longer listing the game or any of its DLC as available to purchase digitally. As for physical copies, we're assuming if you can still find a copy of the five-year-old game at a real-world retailer, you'll still be able to activate and play it.

As for the why, some reddit users are speculating that this is a simple licencing issue. BioShock 2 features a number of licensed musical tracks from the 1920s to 1950s, and it's quite common for music licencing agreements to last for around five years. None of the other BioShock titles have been effected.

Will it come back? Well, considering that it was only a year ago that it got a full Steam re-release to unshackle the title from the dying Games for Windows Live platform, we can say it is likely that 2k Games will try and get it back in stores.

Disclosure(s): Strauss Zelnick, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is the head of ZelnickMedia, an investor in both Take-Two and Defy Media, LLC, our parent company. This article was published without approval or consent of ZelnickMedia or Take-Two.